Boston Beer -- best known for its Samuel Adams craft beer label, Truly Hard Seltzer, Angry Orchard hard cider, Dogfish Head craft beer, and several other small regional brewers -- has long been a top advocate for the independent craft beer movement. Although it isn't the small business it once was, Boston Beer is still relatively small compared to the macrobrew giants.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to a sharp increase in at-home alcohol consumption. As a result, Boston Beer enjoyed an acceleration in its sales growth in 2020 and early 2021. However, since then, changing consumer trends have caused challenges, such as lower-than-anticipated demand for spiked seltzer products; the company was even forced to dump its seltzer when it made too much. Additionally, Boston Beer took a $27.1 million impairment on its acquisition of Dogfish Head, showing that the deal was a disappointment. The slowdown started in the summer of 2021, and those challenges have continued. Depletions and shipments have stabilized, and sales of Truly Hard Seltzer have continued to decline.
Founder Jim Koch returned as CEO in mid-2025 on an interim basis after former CEO Michael Spillane stepped down for personal reasons.
Boston Beer has no debt, a rarity among the massive global beer conglomerates. Shares are down more than 80% from all-time highs due to the slowdown in hard seltzer sales. Boston Beer is still profitable, but the business will need to return to growth for the stock to recoup some of those losses.
How to invest in beer stocks
If you want to invest in beer stocks, the process is simple. Just follow the steps below:
- Open your brokerage app: Log in to your brokerage account where you handle your investments.
- Search for the stock: Enter the ticker or company name into the search bar to bring up the stock's trading page.
- Decide how many shares to buy: Consider your investment goals and how much of your portfolio you want to allocate to this stock.
- Select order type: Choose between a market order to buy at the current price or a limit order to specify the maximum price you're willing to pay.
- Submit your order: Confirm the details and submit your buy order.
- Review your purchase: Check your portfolio to ensure your order was filled as expected and adjust your investment strategy accordingly.
Benefits and risks of investing in beer stocks
Like any other sector, investing in beer stocks come with their benefits and risks. Let's take a look at a few of them.
Benefits:
- Though beer is currently experiencing sluggish demand due in part to weakness among young adults, it is a timeless beverage and has been consumed for thousands of years. Underlying demand for it is likely to be stable.
- Beer stocks tend to be solidly profitable with high profit margins, despite slow growth.
- Beer stocks also tend to be reliable dividend payers due to their reliable cash flows and relatively low valuations.
Risks:
- Beer stocks have been underperformers for years on the stock market, and it's unclear when that trend will change.
- Concerns about health are driving young adults away from alcohol.
- The craft beer boom has faded, meaning the industry is without a clear growth driver.
The bottom line
The beer industry isn't the most exciting investment theme around, but there are some standouts in the space worth your attention, especially for investors seeking to generate some dividend income along the way.
Beer is a top beverage for consumers all over the world and generates ample profits for the major producers and their shareholders. If you decide to add some beer stocks to your portfolio, bear in mind that some of these stocks can exhibit volatile price action. Remember to stay diversified and focus on the long-term potential of these alcoholic beverage makers.
